Ivan Ilych

In the novella “The Death of Ivan Ilych” by Leo Tolstoy, the story is told of a government official by the name of Ivan Ilych who comes down with a terminal illness and dies a slow, painful, and lonely death. During his weeks of sickness, Ilych has plenty of free time to reflect on his life and the meaning behind it, as well as confront the idea of his inevitable death- which ultimately becomes the central theme of the short story. In other words, through Ilych’s struggle with illness Tolstoy is trying to portray that only once an individual comes face to face with death is the true meaning of life revealed. This idea is conveyed even through Ilych’s acquaintances as ‘Besides considerations as to the possible transfers and promotions likely
As a result, they cannot understand what dying really means or hold any kind of sympathy for Ivan. Furthermore, Ivan’s change in attitude is displayed once he comprehends that death is a potential possibility after he visits the doctor for the first time and his “chief occupation was the exact fulfillment of the doctor’s instructions regarding hygiene and the taking of medicine, and the observations of his pain and his excretions… When sickness, deaths, or recoveries were mentioned in his presence, especially when the illness resembled his own, he listened with agitation which he tried to hide, asked questions, and applied what he heard to his own case” (Tolstoy 1133). At this point in the story, Ivan is oblivious to the fact that his illness is terminal, however, he is being confronted with the fact that death is a possibility and is afraid of it in a way that individuals who have never experienced severe illness or near death could ever be. Overall, “The Death of Ivan Ilych” does a great job of conveying how the perception of death is altered once you are the individual confronting it, as well as how death prompts a different perception on life and